At the start of each new year, lots of folks embark on a personal mission to take at least one photo per day. Maybe it’s a selfie.[1] Perhaps it’s a picture of a garden or a moose or whatever. The subject of the photo doesn’t really matter: just know that some people do this (maybe you do).

By combining a few of my favorite tools, I’ve managed to create an extremely efficient way to capture, organize, and store such photos. The process looks like this: [Read more…]

For years now, I’ve been watching friends and strangers alike make the same mistake and it needs to stop.

Of course, I’m referring to the clumsy, inelegant way most folks add a lime wedge to a bottle of cold—typically Mexican—beer.1 Applying a hunk of citrus to a refreshing, light beer is a quick and easy way to make it taste awesome, but it’s all for naught when improper technique is employed.

You may have noticed the productivity dork community losing its collective mind a couple of weeks ago when OmniFocus 2 was released. Like many, many others, I was more than happy to slap my money on the counter. OmniFocus has made up much of the baling wire that’s held my sanity together for the past several years, after all, so ponying up the cheddar for the next version was a no-brainer.

My pal David recently posted a list of his OmniFocus perspectives and how he uses them.1 Because I’m a thought follower, I figured I’d do the same. Standing on the shoulders of lawyers and all that.

Anyway, here they are, in a somewhat-specific order that I’ll describe in a second. Oh, and I’ve included screenshots of my custom perspectives’ configuration screens so you can recreate them in your own app or use them as a springboard for your own fancy perspectives, you fancy person you. 2[Read more…]

As somebody who has mostly standardized his tech life around Apple products—and, to a much lesser degree, services—I’m generally willing to try an Apple solution before looking for third-party alternatives. The way I see it, Apple’s product, app, or service will probably integrate well with the rest of their offerings. It doesn’t always turn out that way, of course, but Apple usually gets first crack at solving a problem I’m having.

So, when the rumored acquisition of Beats Music ended up being true, I figured I’d give it a try. Being a satisfied Rdio user and somebody who had tried (and dismissed) Beats in the past, I wasn’t expecting to like it enough to switch from my beloved Rdio. But, there’s a good chance that Beats will end up being tied into Apple’s software at some point, so I signed up for a month of Beats so I could kick the tires. Here are my thoughts… [Read more…]

Even before becoming a fancy-pants independent writer, my preferred writing situation has been somewhere that served a good beverage (beer, whiskey, or coffee depending on the time of day and/or my current stress level), allowed smoking (yes, yes, I know) and didn’t care if I parked my butt there for several hours. Other than cutting way back on the smoking, this set of preferences holds true to this day.1

I thought it might be fun—and totally self-indulgent, if I’m honest—to unpack the not-so-secret contents of what friends and strangers alike have dubbed my “man bag.” When I leave the house for more than a couple of hours, this bag is usually with me and well-stocked for a number of situations and opportunities. [Read more…]